It was an enjoyable Saturday afternoon for Celtic supporters after the Bhoys beat St Johnstone 3-1 at home in the Scottish Premiership.
Kyogo Furuhashi got the scoring underway just before half-time, superbly latching onto a lovely Nicolas Kuhn cross to head home from close range.
Kuhn turned finisher from provider at the other side of the interval, firing home from Kyogo’s low cross at the end of a lovely team move.
James Forrest then netted his third goal of the season to firmly secure all three points with lots of time left on the clock.
St Johnstone did pull back a consolation late on but never looked like laying anything meaningful on the home side.
It was exactly what Celtic needed at this stage of the season and fans will take heart from some of the individual performances, as well as the overall team display.
What are the big talking points coming out of the afternoon? Here are three of ours…
Nicolas Kuhn starts to come good for Celtic
Kuhn didn’t exactly thrill in his first few appearances for the Bhoys but he’s starting to show why the club shelled out millions for him in the winter transfer window.
Backing up a promising performance against Livingston last week, the Austrian was a man-of-the-match candidate against St Johnstone, registering a goal and an assist.
He was lively outside of those moments too, though. Most of Celtic’s positive forward play went through him, with an impressive 19 touches in the opposition box after just an hour on the pitch.
Also getting stuck in with pressing and tackles, if Kuhn can replicate this performance consistently then he’ll fit in well at the Bhoys. It’s still early days for him, but this was much better from him.
Signs of Kyogo’s best
One of the most satisfying aspects of today’s win was Kyogo looking like Kyogo again. The Japanese international was busy and involved throughout, even before his opening goal.
At times the striker has looked isolated up against low-block opponents this term but his teammates found nice combinations with him throughout and he expertly sprung the St Johnstone defensive trap on several occasions.
Adam Idah has made a nice impact at Celtic but everyone has been craving Kyogo getting back to his best form.
With a goal last week in the Scottish Cup and a strong showing this afternoon, it bodes well that he looks in fine shape heading into the final portion of the season.
The title race heats up
Celtic had to win by any means necessary today. That it was a comfortable afternoon and entertaining performance was just a bonus.
Whisper it, but the Bhoys have actually gone back to the top of the table, one point ahead of Rangers.
The Ibrox side have still to play this weekend of course but, as we discussed earlier, Celtic winning today adds a layer of pressure onto their trip to Dundee.
As the chasing team, all the Bhoys can do is continue to ask questions of them outside of the upcoming derbies.
The expectation is that they will pick up all three points on Tayside, of course, but off the back of European exertions stranger things have happened.
After the international break Celtic will play away to Livingston and to Rangers. All three points needed to be banked in anticipation of that. Now let’s see how they respond at Dens Park.
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